This audio version of Patterson's latest Alex Cross thriller moves smoothly and with great energy. The story is one of Patterson's best: just as Cross is about to retire from the Washington, D.C., police and head out to California to pursue an attractive romantic possibility, he's pulled into an intriguing case in North Carolina by his partner and best friend, John Sampson, who asks Cross to help him prove that an old Vietnam colleague of Sampson's couldn't have killed three women in a particularly brutal manner. With two excellent readers splitting up the good guys' and bad guys' voices between them, the story never wanes or goes off-track. Broadway veteran Fernandez gives a strong performance of Cross and Sampson and adroitly brings Cross's crotchety grandmother to life. Emerson frighteningly portrays the villains, subtly differentiating the characters with his voice. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, Oct. 7). (Nov.)